Field of the Invention
This application relates generally to a printing plate manufacturing apparatus and to a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium storing a data generating program and a control program for a manufacturing apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
Technology (plate-manufacturing technology) for manufacturing a printing plate for imprinting text characters, graphics and/or the like on a medium such as paper and/or the like by selectively causing heater elements to generate heat while pressing the surface of a thermoplastic porous material with the heater elements has been known from before.
This technology uses the fact that the porous material melts in the area in contact with the high-temperature heater element, and pores formed in that area are plugged. By selectively causing the material to make contact with the heater element that is at a high temperature and forming in the porous material areas (the areas caused to make contact with the heater element that is at a high temperature) that do not absorb ink even when soaked in ink, a printing plate that prints desired characters and/or the like through ink transfer is manufactured.
However, with the above-described printing plate manufacturing method, areas of the porous material that did not make contact with the heater element that is at a high temperature are the areas that absorb the ink. When areas that absorb the ink exist in series, there are cases in which during ink transfer, ink is excessively supplied to the medium from those areas, so that the ink runs.
As technology related to this topic, in Japanese Patent No. 3716503, for example, technology is disclosed for forming a dot film layer in which the amount of permeation of ink into a porous substrate is uniformly controlled, by heating a dot form made of photosensitive resin or metal and pressing the print surface of a porous substrate with that dot form. In addition, in this Literature, technology is also disclosed for forming a dot film layer by a thermal head without using a die.
However, with the technology disclosed in the above-described Literature, a dot film layer is formed uniformly on the entire print surface, so the amount of permeation of the ink is limited even in areas with no fears of ink running. In addition, with the technology disclosed in the above-described Literature 1, dots (areas that do not absorb ink) determined in advance with no relation to the characters, graphics and/or the like printed (hereafter denoted as the print pattern) are formed on the print surface. Accordingly, it is impossible to manufacture a printing plate that prints the same pattern as the dots, so print patterns are limited.